Hershkowitz: Emergency Order for Hareidi Volunteers

Science Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, whose office oversees national volunteer service, told a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hearing on military service in the hareidi community, Monday, "It is necessary to pass an emergency order before the disbanding of the Knesset to allow the continued absorption of the hareidim in the various tracks of national civilian service like Magen David Adom, Prisons Service, aid to the elderly, youth at risk, etc."

Professor Hershkowitz noted that the cancellation of the Tal Law on hareidi induction to the Israel Defense Forces formally eliminated these tracks, adding that in the past, 200 hareidim were absorbed in a month, but there's no legal way to accept them now, although the demand to join is high. The rabbi also said that ministry research showed that 84 percent of hareidi volunteers are integrated into the labor force and academic studies.